Lantern hanger assembly

ABSTRACT

A generally horizontal support arm having one end for support of an article therefrom and a pair of endwise outwardly extending and divergent upstanding plates at the other end including free upstanding marginal edge portions for abutting remote peripherally spaced side portions of an upright from which the arm is to be supported. An elongated tension member is provided and has one end attached to one of the free marginal edge portions of one plate while the other end of the tension member is attached to the free marginal edge portion of the other plate so as to encircle and frictionally engage the side of the upright remote from the side thereof embraced between the upstanding plates.

United States Patent 11 1 Johnston 1 1 LANTERN HANGER ASSEMBLY [76] Inventor: Leroy I. Johnston, Rural Route 2,

Lake Crystal, Minn. 56055 [22] Filed: Oct. 1, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 185,572

[52] U.S. Cl 248/221, 248/224, 248/231, 2| 1/107 [51] Int. Cl. Fl6m 13/02 [58] Field 01 Search 248/121, 125, 221, 248/224, 231, 300, 301, 311; 211/107, 110, 111

[56] Reierences Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,241,695 5/1941 Barton 248/231 799,957 9/1905 Winn 248/221 X 1,121,513 12/1914 Lench 248/221 X 1,542,548 6/1925 Gordon 248/231 1,700,253 1/1929 Davis 248/301 X 562,887 6/1896 Carter 248/125 X 2,114,876 4/1938 Forbes 248/300 X [451 July 17,1973

Primary ExaminerWilliam H. Schultz Att0meyHarvey B. Jacobson [57] ABSTRACT A generally horizontal support arm having one end for support of an article therefrom and a pair of endwise outwardly extending and divergent upstanding plates at the other end including free upstanding marginal edge portions for abutting remote peripherally spaced side portions of an upright from which the arm is to be supported. An elongated tension member is provided and has one end attached to one of the free marginal edge portions of one plate while the other end of the tension member is attached to the free marginal edge portion of the other plate so as to encircle and frictionally engage the side of the upright remote from the side thereof embraced between the upstanding plates.

5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures LANTERN HANGER ASSEMBLY The hanger assembly of the instant invention has been specifically designed to provide a means whereby articles may be supported in adjusted elevated positions from different types of upright members.

In some instances the articles to be supported are suspended from various types of uprights such as trees, tent poles, pipes and other upstanding members. In order to provide a support by which articles may be supported in elevated position on such upright inembers, a need for a universal support has been realized.

Accordingly, the main object of this invention is to provide a support by which various types of articles may be supported in elevated positions from various difierent types of upright members.

Another object of this invention, in accordance with the preceding objects, is to provide a support constructed in a manner whereby various articles to be suspended may be readily supported therefrom.

Still another important object of this invention is to provide a support bracket that may be readily adjusted for support from various types of upright members.

A further object of this invention is to provide a support in accordance with the preceding objects constructed in a manner whereby the support may be supported from an associated upright member without the utilization of conventional fastening means.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an article support in accordance with the preceding objects and which may be utilized to support an article in elevated position from an upright member with the support being adapted to be utilized in conjunction with upright members of small as well as reasonably large cross-sectional dimensions.

A final object of this invention to be specifically enumerated herein is to provide a-hanger assembly in accordance with the preceding objects which will conform to conventional forms of manufacture, be of simple construction and easy to use so as to provide a device that will be economically feasible, long-lasting and relatively trouble free in operation.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the hanger assembly in use supporting a latern from an elevated portionof a tree trunk; 1

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the hanger assembly; and

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the hanger assem bly.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings the numeral generally designates an upright member comprising a tree trunk. The hanger assembly of the instant invention is referred to in general by the reference numeral 12 and illustrated in FIG. 1 of the drawings From FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings it may be seen that the hanger assembly 12 comprises an elongated generally horizontal support arm 20 comprising an edge upstanding panel member. The support arm 20 includes a free end portion 22 and a base end portion 24. A plurality of longitudinally spaced and upwardly opening notches 26 are formed in the upper marginal edge portion 28 of the support arm 20 and the free terminal end portion of the support arm 20 includes an upwardly opening keyhole slot or opening 30 formed therein.

The base end portion of the support arm 20 includes a pair of endwise outwardly projecting edge upstanding divergent plates 32 and 34. The plate 32 comprises an integral extension of the base end of portion 24 of the support arm 20 and the plate 34 is formed separate from the support arm 20 but includes a generally rectangular extension 36 on its base end which conforms to and overlies one side of the base end portion 24. The extension 36 is secured to the base end portion 24 by means of suitable fasteners 38 secured through the base end portion 24 and the extension 36.

As may be seen from FIG. 3 of the drawings, the lower marginal edge portions 40 of the plates 32 and 34 lie in generally the same horizontal plane containing the lower edge 42 of the edge upstanding support arm 20. However, the free marginal edge portions 44 of the plates 32 and 34 extend upwardly from the lower marginal edges 40 to points elevated generally three times the elevation of the edge portion 28 relative to the lower edge 42 of the support arm 20. The plates 32 and 34 include inclined edge portions 46 extending downward from the upper extremities of the upstanding free edge portions 44 to the upper edge portion 28 of the support arm 20 and the upper edge of the extension 36. These inclined edges or edge portions 46 include horizontal notches 48 formed therein which are generally horizontally disposed and open toward the free end portion 22 of the support arm 20. In addition, each of the plates 32 and 34 has an inverted keyhole opening 50 formed therethrough adjacent to the intersection of the upstanding edges 44 and the inclined edges 46, but spaced below the slots 48.

As previously herein before set forth, the tension member 14 comprises a length of link chain and one end portion of the link chain is engaged with one of the slots 48 while the other end portion of the link chain is engaged with the other of the slots 48 and the mid portion of the link chain extending about and embracingly frictionally engaging the side of the tree trunk 10 remote from the side thereof embracingly received between the free marginal edges 44 of the plates 32 and 34.

The bail-type handle 16 of the lantern 18 has its mid portion seated in the upwardly opening keyhole slot or opening 30 formed in the free end portion 22 of the support arm 20 and thus the weight of the lantern l8 bears downwardly on the outer free end portion 22 of slightly longer link chain tension member may be utilized with the mid portion of the chain wrapped at least one complete turn about the upright from which the hanger assembly 12 is to be supported. In this manner, the link chain tension member will afford a tighter frictional grip on the smooth outer surfaces of the upright.

In the event the hanger assembly 12 is to be semipermanently attached to the tree trunk 10, the tension member 14 may be discarded and a pair of nails 54 may be driven through the upper portions of the keyhole openings 50 and into the tree trunk without fully seating the heads of the nails 54 against the outer remote surfaces of the plates 32 and 34, thus allowing the hanger assembly 12 to be readily removed from the tree trunk 10 and readily thereafter again supported from the tree trunk 10.

The included angle defined between the plates 32 and 34 is slightly less than 90. In this manner, the hanger assembly 12 may enjoy a tight friction fit against a supporting upright such as a four by four timber in cluding right angulated adjacent side surfaces.

The hanger assembly 12 is preferably constructed of a non corrosive and relatively hard metal. However, other metals as well as plastics may be utilized in the construction of the hanger assembly 12, depending upon the amount of weight expected to be supported therefrom.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A hanger assembly including a generally horizontal elongated and edge upstanding plate-like support arm having base and free end portions, the base end portion of said arm terminating in an integral upstanding generally planar plate-like member angled outwardly at generally 45 relative to and to one side of the longitudinal center line of said arm, a second plate-like member of at least generally the same configuration as the first mentioned plate-like member and disposed in edge upstanding position at the base end portion of said arm and oppositely angled approximately 45 relative to and to the other side of the longitudinal center line of said arm, said second plate-like member including an integral angulated extension rigidly secured to said base end portion of said arm in superposed relation relative to said other side thereof, said plate-like members including upstanding generally parallel and the straight edge portions remote from said arm and disposed generally normal to the latter, said upstanding edge portions of said plate-like members each being of a vertical extent at least generally three times the vertical thick ness of said arm and projecting upwardly above the horizontal center line of said arm generally twice the vertical thickness of said arm, and an elongated flexible tension member attached at one end to the upper portion of one of said upstanding edge portions and at the other end to the upper portion of the other upstanding edge portion with the center portion of said tension member being adapted to extend about and frictionally engage the side of an upright remote from the side thereof received between said plate-like members.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein the included angle defined between said plates is slightly less than 3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said tension member comprises a length of link chain, the upper portions of the free marginal edge portions of said plates being provided with horizontal slots opening toward said free end portion of said support arm and in which links carried by the opposite end portions of said chain are engaged.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said plates include upwardly inclined upper edge portions extending away from the base end portion of said support arm and twoard the free upstanding edge portions of said plates, said slots opening through the upper end portions of said inclined upper edge portions.

5. The combination of claim 4 wherein the upper ex tremities of said plates remote from said base end portion of said support arm have inverted keyhole openings formed transversely therethrough. 

1. A hanger assembly including a generally horizontal elongated and edge upstanding plate-like support arm having base and free end portions, the base end portion of said arm terminating in an integral upstanding generally planar plate-like member angled outwardly at generally 45* relative to and to one side of the longitudinal center line of said arm, a second plate-like member of at least generally the same configuration as the first mentioned plate-like member and disposed in edge upstanding position at the base end portion of said arm and oppositely angled approximately 45* relative to and to the other side of the longitudinal center line of said arm, said second plate-like member including an integral angulated extension rigidly secured to said base end portion of said arm in superposed relation relative to said other side thereof, said plate-like members including upstanding generally parallel and the straight edge portions remote from said arm and disposed generally normal to the latter, said upstanding edge portions of said plate-like members each being of a vertical extent at least generally three times the vertical thickness of said arm and projecting upwardly above the horizontal center line of said arm generally twice the vertical thickness of said arm, and an elongated flexible tension member attached at one end to the upper portion of one of said upstanding edge portions and at the other end to the upper portion of the other upstanding edge portion with the center portion of said tension member being adapted to extend about and frictionally engage the side of an upright remote from the side thereof received between said plate-like members.
 2. The combination of claim 1 wherein the included angle defined between said plates is slightly less than 90*.
 3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said tension member comprises a length of link chain, the upper portions of the free marginal edge portions of said plates being provided with horizontal slots opening toward said free end portion of said support arm and in which links carried by the opposite end portions of said chain are engaged.
 4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said plates include upwardly inclined upper edge portions extending away from the base end portion of said support arm and twoard the free upstanding edge portions of said plates, said slots opening through the upper end portions of said inclined upper edge portions.
 5. The combination of claim 4 wherein the upper extremities of said plates remote from said base end portion of said support arm have inverted keyhole openings formed transversely therethrough. 